The Spurs are 2007 champs!(much more inside)

[cheater1034]

The cavs played great defense, but hideous offensive execution and poor decision making offensively cost them the game (ex. all the 3s they are shooting, including lebron with 20 seconds left on the shot clock near the end)

And jeff van gundy is a freaking idiot, early in the game when gibson is shooting technical free throws or whatever "I don't understand why gibson is shooting these free throws here" - turns out gibson makes both, because he is a great free throw shooter? Also this one is my favorite "LeBron is really struggling to get inside, he really needs to start shooting more jumpshots". I mean wtf! Come on people, he has been shooting jumpshots, and he has been consistently missing them because he isn't ready to play in this type of game like dwayne wade was. Van Gundy hurts my ears though, jeez.

Also, not only did lebron get fouled at the end, Bowen was intentionally trying to foul him. I'm not saying LeBron would of made all 3 free throws, but he was having a good night at the foul line and I'd there would be a good chance I'd still be watching OT right now if they called the foul.

it's fouls like that that make you wonder what's going on in the NBA? I mean, Bowen knew what he was doing and was TRYING to foul lebron, it wasn't by accident, they didn't call a foul bowen committed and was trying to commit.

[nylia]

all i can say is get rid of gooden, coach brown.

maybe verajao. never liked him even when he contributed.

his cons cancel out his pros.. so whats the point?

gooden is just a pure dumb ass. no IQ.

he said that the cavs was so into the Xs and Os rather than just playing with fun and emotion.

W T F??? are you stupid? maybe if your team was made up of all-stars. wait, i don't think that would work too!

"I don't understand why gibson is shooting these free throws here"

this was because the clear path foul was on Lebron. He was the one who had the clear path, not Gibson

[cheater1034]

all i can say is get rid of gooden, coach brown.

Don't make another post again you idiot. Gooden had a great night first of all so wtf is your problem with him. Second of all Mike Brown is the winningest coach in cavs history, and in his second season the cavs came to their first nba finals in franchise history. Mike Brown may not be coaching fell against poppovich, but few people can outcoach him, especially when he's young and in this situation. But Mike Brown outcoached Flip big time who is a much more experienced coach and a coach with much more talent and depth.

maybe verajao. never liked him even when he contributed.

You really are stupid, Varejao may not contribute offensively, but the energy he brings provides great emotional boosts for the cavs (he probably did cost the game overall with that dumb a** shot he took at the end, that was lebron's time - that's why lebron isn't ready for the finals)

his cons cancel out his pros.. so whats the point?

Everybody has weaknesses (except boobie :-p), but his only con is a weak offensive game, but overall he didn't do that bad tonight offensively.

gooden is just a pure dumb ass. no IQ.

Lol, it's funny someone like you is accusing someone else of being a pure dumb ass.

[qupte]he said that the cavs was so into the Xs and Os rather than just playing with fun and emotion.

W T F??? are you stupid? maybe if your team was made up of all-stars. wait, i don't think that would work too![/quote]
What are you talking about?!?!?! A game like this is won with emotion, and why shouldn't you have fun? The cavs got away from themselves emotionally, especially lebron. Gibson had 31 points in game 6 against detroit, and what did he say?!?!?!?! "I just try to have fun out there and play some basketball". Gibson said the same thing in every interview they did with him.

See, i don't know why you don't understand this, but when teams get in a big game like this they can try to do too much at one time and act like machines per say (which nobody can do), and they forget how they played to get here and they try to change their way of play. THEY NEED TO RELAX AND PLAY THEIR GAME OF BASKETBALL WHICH IS HOW THEY GOT HERE.

As a former basketball player this happened to me and my team a lot. We tried to do too much at one time (go for steals at inopportune times, when the patch is clear shoot a 3 instead of drive for a layup, and most of all have the thought in front of your head "oh man if we lose this game we're done!" And you get into panic mode and you lose).

There is no insight to your post and it's a very stupid one. Gooden is a very good young talent, and he will drain the mid-range 9/10 times when open. He will also grab boards, he had a double double.

[nylia]

Good job. People post here to say what they think. Come talk to me when you own this forum.

Just because I corrected you, you go on a mean streak of correcting everything I say.

That's fine.

Everybody has weaknesses (except boobie :-p), but his only con is a weak offensive game, but overall he didn't do that bad tonight offensively.

I just said his mistakes cancel out his strengths. i never implied that he shouldn't have a weakness.

What are you talking about?!?!?! A game like this is won with emotion, and why shouldn't you have fun? The cavs got away from themselves emotionally, especially lebron. Gibson had 31 points in game 6 against detroit, and what did he say?!?!?!?! "I just try to have fun out there and play some basketball". Gibson said the same thing in every interview they did with him.

Look at what it got him. 4 fouls in 1 quarter. Oh, yea, he put up good rebounding numbers, so what? A game is never won on emotions alone. Look at TD, looks like a zombie, but wins games.

Edit:

Anyways, that is my point of view. I'm not here to persuade you. I'm just saying what I see from Gooden, so stop acting like you're so almighty smart and put down other people's comments.

[cheater1034]

I hate when people go like "fire the coach, remove everyone except lebron, blah blah"

This has been a great season for the cavs, yes I'm upset the cavs are probably going to lose the finals, I'm still cheering them on however, they can make history . But I have to give the coach and players a ton of credit. They are a very young team and nobody in their right mind picked cleveland to make it to the finals. The "fire everybody and start all over" is just ridiculous. I just don't see how you can back this opinion.

Gooden had a great game with 15pts 11boards I think, he got in foul trouble, so what? I can't fault him for playing with passion in the biggest game of his career, he hustled for some rebounds and got called for loose ball fouls, I can't say I have a problem with that. I actually think it's a good thing he's showing a bit more hustle and heart for his team.

[Lean]

I believe that the broom will be used on Game 4

Seeing the game earlier, I thought the Spurs would lose it. I hate the officiating. There are a lot of no calls (I'm betting for the Spurs here, but there are also a lot of no-calls on the side of the Cavs).

Z played better this time. And Sasha played good minutes too. But it's not enough to backup LeBron.

And Hughes donned a nice suit on the bench

[shadowgrin]

http://www.nba.com/games/20070610/CLESAS/gameinfo.html

Look at that pic of Duncan and Parker in game 2. Who said the Spurs are boring and aren't intense.

[The X]

I didn't see the game, but maybe refs are going the opposite way on last year's Finals when they didn't let anyone breathe on Wade....they don't want to take the criticism like last year....this year Lebron seems to be copping it....

I'm glad they're not calling fouls on Bowen though....at least they're keeping it consistent....they didn't call them when he was mugging Nash, it's good to see non-calls in this series (aside from the obvious foul at end of course)....

[Matt]

Gooden is about as smart as a rock, but he probably wouldnt look so stupid if he didnt grow pubes on his head

SWEEP SWEEP SWEEP!!!!

[Lean]

[scrub]

LeBron is doing everything he can but most of his teammates are just fucking shit on offense. They did have a good defensive game shutting down Dunca, Parker and Ginobili but their shooting from 3 was terrible. They need someone other than Daniel Gibson (who was off last night) to get points for them either in the post or from the perimeter to help LeBron or they will not get to the next level. LeBron was was fouled by Bruce but who says LeBron will make those shots.


And Anderson Varejao. hahahahha. This guy averages 6 points or something and has no offensive game yet wants to make the big play to win a game they must win against future HOF Tim Duncan. What a joke.

[el badman]

They did have a good defensive game shutting down Dunca, Parker and Ginobili but their shooting from 3 was terrible.

They didn't make their 3s and they didn't stop Bowen, Barry, Horry,... from scoring theirs.
Cleveland would probably need the type of game LBJ had in game 5 against Detroit to keep the series going, but it definitely feels like game 4 will be the last...

[nylia]

They did have a good defensive game shutting down Dunca, Parker and Ginobili but their shooting from 3 was terrible.

They didn't make their 3s and they didn't stop Bowen, Barry, Horry,... from scoring theirs.
Cleveland would probably need the type of game LBJ had in game 5 against Detroit to keep the series going, but it definitely feels like game 4 will be the last...

This won't happen. The Spurs can just leave everyone else open. I think they can leave James open from the 3pt line as well. Nobody can shoot right now for the Cavs.

They were getting wide open shots last night, and managed what? 2 out of 16 or 17 shots? They really need to upgrade their scoring/shooting. Their defense is ok. Time to improve their shooting especially Lebron.

[shadowgrin]

Cavaliers need someone that could really shoot.
Someone like Damon Jones.
Oh wait...

[SVSM/CC-23]

you think damon jones could be the x-factor in a close-out game in the finals?

in the next finals i think lebron should be better coordinated. he has so many possibilities what to do, but he does not want to do a one-man-show, scoring 60 or 70 ppg. if you can do everything you maybe don`t know which option to choose. maybe it would be best to put down a "kobe2006" in game 4.

[cheater1034]

I mean, LeBron took a lot of stupid jump shots at the end even when they weren't falling all game. The whole team kept shooting 3s and turning it over time after time. If LBJ really wanted to win he would of drove to the basket attacking, like he did in game 5 against detroit in the end. Also TD might of got foul #5 called on him and sat for a good part of the 4th Q, but they kept shooting jump shots.

SA will not get the sweep though, the cavs won't allow it, and the cavs don't want them to celebrate on their own court. Also, I don't see the NBA allowing it because they want money. The cavs have yet to have a good game all series, last night they played incredible defense where SA did not get off any easy shot, but their offense was really painful to the eyes, I wonder what kind of play says after we make a 3 after going 0/5, lets keep shooting them. LeBron dribbled down the court with like 7 minutes left in the 4th and jacked up a 3 with 20 left on the shot clock, then sasha missed a 3, and gibson missed a 3. They had too many wasted possessions with 3s. I just don't know what they were thinking.

Gooden is about as smart as a rock, but he probably wouldnt look so stupid if he didnt grow pubes on his head

This is a team joke or so I hear, that he shaved his head before game 1 and missed a spot so the team made fun of him, so he just kept it and made a joke out of it. Gooden isn't a rocket scientist, but he isn't a dumb player, he doesn't take stupid shots ever.

I mean, I'm thankful the cavs don't have anyone as stupid as mcdyess, maxiell, rasheed?

SWEEP SWEEP SWEEP!!!!

I'll put money against a sweep

*edit*

Wow, I didn't realize LeBron said at the end he had a good look at the 3, and bruce was incidental contact that didn't affect his shot. I'm very glad to hear him say something like this because it makes the program and himself look classy to the extreme .

[shadowgrin]

Gooden isn't a rocket scientist, but he isn't a dumb player, he doesn't take stupid shots ever.

Yeah! He only takes stupid rebounds from behind the back of a well positioned rebounding opponent which causes foul calls against him.

[NovU]

gooden 3 yrs for 23Million guy
a lot of money for a dumb guy heh?

to me, cav management has done a superb job
no matter wut ppl say, they made it to finals

[Sauru]

pointing out someones contract will not prove they are dumb or not

[benji]

That was not a foul in the act of shooting, I'm fairly sure LeBron was facing away from the basket and took another step before shooting. You do not get a continuation foul unless you are moving towards the basket. Bowen tried to foul before LeBron could move, but he's too fast, so he got the arm. Since it didn't hinder LeBron the refs didn't call it, since he figured they would, he flung up a terrible shot in hopes of getting a shooting foul.

It was a good call in NOT calling a shooting foul, bad call in NOT calling any foul. The Cavs would've gotten it out of bounds with less time, and failed to score anyway.

This allows Cavs fans to ignore how they shot themselves out of the Finals. If Ilgauskas and Gooden hadn't dominated the offensive glass it would've been a 15-20 point Spurs win.

[dan_suth]

I know the picture can't exactly 'prove' it, but judging by how far Bowen is from Lebron in this image it definitely looks like it couldn't have been a shooting foul. I completely agree, it was a bad no-call, but if he would have gotten to shoot 3 for that, it would have been even more awful.

[Abctest123]

I didn't catch it but only saw the highlights. IMHO, I don't think that was a shooting foul at all; Lebron shot after he was purposely fouled by Bowen. When Bowen intentionally fouled Lebron, he was clearly just trying to dribble away from Bruce Bowen. I didnt know what happened afterwards other than the fact Lebron missed that three but I think the correct call would have been to just either give Lebron his freethrows if Spurs were over the limit or if they weren't over the limit, giving the Cavs the ball from out of bounds.

EDIT: Heres a recap of Game 3 on Youtube. LINK
At 2:57 of the vid is when the final play starts. Its hard to see at normal speed, but when they slow it down (they show a slow-motion replay of the final play starting at around 3:07 of the video), I think it shows that Lebron was not quite ready to shoot yet when Bowen fouled him.

[Lean]

Bowen touched Lebron to foul him intentionally, to either stop the clock or to put LeBron to shoot two free throws (I'm not sure if the Spurs are in the penalty then). But the refs didn't call the foul, instead LeBron threw up a three thinking that the refs would call a shooting foul and him taking three free throws instead of two.

[galvatron3000]

Refs didn't call the foul to give LeBron a chance to tie with a three becaue Bowen clearly fouled before Lebron was in the act of shooting, in the picture posted in one of the above posts, doesn't prove anything because LeBron is always taking fadeaway three's and Bowen was getting clear so as to not get a foul called for a possibe four point play. That's good basketball and great awareness after the refs intetionally didn't make the call when BRuce was trying to send LeBron to the line for two instead of three.

[Andrew]

The way shooting fouls and continuations are called these days, it certainly could have been called a three shot foul. Similar calls were made earlier in the game on the basis that when the offensive player picks up his dribble on his way to the basket he's considered to be in the act of shooting, which seems to be a standard ruling these days.

Even if the ruling is made that it's not a foul in the act of shooting a three pointer, it was clear Bowen was trying to foul LeBron to disrupt the player and stop the clock, which is what should have happened. Instead play continued and LeBron had to take the shot he was given, which was admittedly a fairly good look. I know it's the NBA Finals and there's no place for ticky-tack calls but that doesn't mean throwing the rulebook out the window either.

Still, the Cavs blew a lot of opportunities in the fourth when they were down four and could have taken the lead while the Spurs hit a bit of a dry spell late in the quarter. Questions can be raised about the final play of the game but Cleveland had plenty of chances to seize control of the game before that happened. Their defense was getting the job done but they just weren't knocking down shots. That's the thing about the old adage of defense winning championships; you can hold a team to 75 points as the Cavs did, but unless you can score 76 the effort is wasted.